According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland last year were Grace and Jack.
Here are the Northern Ireland’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
- Grace, 182 baby girls
- Emily, 150
- Fiadh, 149
- Olivia, 148
- Isla, 138
- Sophie, 128
- Aoife, 122
- Ella, 111
- Anna, 106
- Sophia, 102
- Amelia, 101
- Lucy, 100
- Charlotte, 98
- Lily, 94
- Evie, 92 (tie)
- Freya, 92 (tie)
- Ava, 90
- Annie, 87
- Mia, 82
- Ellie, 80
- Erin, 76 (3-way tie)
- Molly, 76 (3-way tie)
- Rosie, 76 (3-way tie)
- Willow, 69
- Eabha, 67
- Ruby, 64
- Poppy, 62
- Meabh, 61 (tie)
- Niamh, 61 (tie)
- Eva, 60
- Maisie, 59
- Katie, 58
- Cora, 56
- Hannah, 55 (tie)
- Ivy, 55 (tie)
- Cara, 54 (tie)
- Clodagh, 54 (tie)
- Georgia, 52 (4-way tie)
- Harper, 52 (4-way tie)
- Jessica, 52 (4-way tie)
- Zara, 52 (4-way tie)
- Chloe, 51 (tie)
- Rose, 51 (tie)
- Aria, 50
- Alice, 49 (3-way tie)
- Daisy, 49 (3-way tie)
- Mollie, 49 (3-way tie)
- Heidi, 48
- Saoirse, 45 (tie)
- Sienna, 45 (tie)
Boy Names
- Jack, 193 baby boys
- Noah, 191
- James, 173
- Charlie, 155
- Oliver, 131
- Theo, 119
- Leo, 117
- Cillian, 116
- Finn, 115
- Harry, 114
- Oisin, 109 (tie)
- Thomas, 109 (tie)
- Daniel, 103
- Tommy, 101
- Freddie, 97
- Jacob, 92
- Jude, 86
- Arthur, 84
- Daithi, 83
- Darragh, 78 (3-way tie)
- Ethan, 78 (3-way tie)
- Ronan, 78 (3-way tie)
- Jonah, 77
- Alfie, 76 (tie)
- Archie, 76 (tie)
- Caleb, 75
- Shea, 73
- Conor, 71
- Alexander, 69
- Patrick, 68
- George, 66 (3-way tie)
- Isaac, 66 (3-way tie)
- Mason, 66 (3-way tie)
- Matthew, 65 (tie)
- Reuben, 65 (tie)
- Conan, 64 (3-way tie)
- Fionn, 64 (3-way tie)
- Luke, 64 (3-way tie)
- Ollie, 63
- Jake, 61 (tie)
- Joseph, 61 (tie)
- Logan, 60 (3-way tie)
- Odhran, 60 (3-way tie)
- Oscar, 60 (3-way tie)
- Liam, 58 (3-way tie)
- Lucas, 58 (3-way tie)
- Max, 58 (3-way tie)
- John, 57
- Rory, 56
- Joshua, 55 (tie)
- Theodore, 55 (tie)
In the girls’ top 10, Aoife and Anna replaced Amelia, Lucy and Freya. (Two replaced three because there was a tie for tenth last year.)
In the boys’ top 10, Leo replaced Thomas.
And on the other side of the spectrum…
Northern Ireland’s downloadable data only goes down to names given to 3 babies, technically, but this batch of data — like the 2020 batch — included two extra alphabetized sets of names at the end. I believe these sets of names were the ones given to 2 babies and 1 baby, respectively. With that theory in mind, here’s a sampling of names from the second set:
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
| Aodhla, Bediha, Caodhla, Darbie, Edera, Farbhlaidh, Gullandama, Harryanna, Izzy, Jersey, Khalessee, Lasairfhiona, Moya-Grace, Nollaig, Otter, Pupa, Qismina, Rozerin, Samhradh, Toireasa, Ugne, Venba, Wanda, Xanthe, Yarra, Zarka | Astraeus, Brogain, Chulainn, Dubhlainn, Edico, Finnian, Gerard-Og, Holiness, Iollan, Jefaldo, Kestrel, Laochrainn, Murdo, Nivonio, Orin, Padraic, Quevin, Riocht, Struan, Tuathal, Uisce, Vinny, Wai, Xayah, Yeats, Zeyue |
Explanations/associations for some of the above…
- Farbhlaidh – Irish for “overlord, ruler.”
- Lasairfhiona – Irish for “flame of wine” — lasair meaning “flame,” fhíona meaning “of wine.” (The Irish word for “wine” is fíon.)
- Nollaig – Irish for “Christmas.”
- Samhradh – Irish for “summer.”
- Chulainn – a reference to Cú Chulainn of Irish mythology.
- Riocht – Irish for “kingdom.”
- Tuathal – both a legendary conqueror of Ireland (Túathal Techtmar) and the Irish word for “counterclockwise.”
- Uisce – Irish for “water.” (Also the word upon which “whiskey” was based!)
- Yeats – a reference to W. B. Yeats, the Irish poet.
Finally, here are the 2020 rankings for Northern Ireland, if you’d like to compare.
Sources: Baby Names – NISRA, Irish Names and Surnames, Wiktionary
Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay